The present invention relates to electrical connecting devices and, particularly, to a novel insulation-piercing contact which may be used in a variety of electrical applications to effect solderless electrical terminal connections.
Insulation-piercing contacts have gained wide acceptance in the communications and data handling industries. Their use has been found particularly advantageous in multi-contact connectors and miniaturized circuit boards where conventional soldering techniques have proven time consuming, difficult and oftentimes deleterious to the associated conductors and electrical components being connected. Examples of typical prior art insulation-piercing contacts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,910,671, 3,926,498, 3,950,065 and 3,955,873.
In spite of this success, a number of disadvantages are associated with the prior art devices, resulting in their performance being not wholly satisfactory. For example, conventional prior art devices employ a thin, insulation-piercing jaw having a forked construction, with inside edges which penetrate the insulation and which also serve as contact surfaces to make the necessary electrical connection with the conductor. While these thin inside edges facilitate the insulation-piercing function of the contacts, they do not serve as optimal electrical contacts because of the small surface area actually engaging the conductor. Moreover, these edges have a tendency to cut or score the conductor thereby weakening the conductor and sometimes adversely affecting the desired current flow. Finally, the prior art contacts in some instances act to displace the insulation along the conductor, resulting in a compression of the insulation adjacent the insulation-piercing jaw. Compression of the insulation in this manner is not desirable, since it increases the force necessary for proper connection of the contact to the conductor and may impair the electrical connection as well.